How Does a Tanning Bed Work?
Thousands of Americans use tanning beds each year as they get a tan indoors. However, just as there are studies about the damaging effects of the sun outdoors, there are also harmful effects of the "indoor" sun produced in tanning beds.
Tanning beds emit ultraviolet radiation at levels roughly 95 percent ultraviolet-A radiation versus 5 percent of ultraviolet-B radiation. This radiation imitates the sun, yet allows the tanner to develop a deeper glow more quickly because the bulbs are close to the skin. When the sun's rays penetrate the skin, it causes the body to produce melanin, making the skin appear darker. However, melanin is a reaction to trauma to the skin. Therefore, signs of a tan are actually signs of skin damage.
Increased Risk of Skin Cancer
In addition to the damage caused by the production of the tan itself, more than 20 studies published in the medical journal Lancet indicate that tanning beds increase a person's skin cancer risk by as much as 75 percent, according to WDSU.com. As a result, the World Health Organization has placed tanning beds in the highest cancer risk category, alongside carcinogens arsenic and cigarettes.
One of the reasons tanning beds are so much more damaging than the sun's rays is because the radiation given off by a tanning bed can be as much as three times the sun's radiation, according to Vanderbilt.edu. While the sun's rays contain more UVB light, which researchers once believed was the sole contributor to skin cancer, UVA rays also can contribute to skin cancer, according to the Mayo Clinic. Because UVA rays penetrate more deeply than UVB rays, the danger for tanning bed users is that skin cancers can begin more deeply in the skin. UVA rays also have been associated with causing more severe forms of skin cancer, such as melanoma, which is the deadliest form.
Wrinkling and Age Spots
Skin cancer is not the only damaging effect cause by tanning beds. Tanning beds also cause premature aging, such as wrinkles and age spots. Ultraviolet exposure while in the tanning bed causes collagen, which is responsible for the elastic properties of the skin, to break down. This breakdown typically occurs over years of a person's life, ultimately causing wrinkling and age spots. Ultraviolet radiation's presence speeds up this process, resulting in premature damage.
